This article acts as a handy guide for anyone who is looking to learn the basics on how to play Dream Team fantasy football. It covers how to pick a team, how to manage your team and how you will score points across the season. With many changes to the rules recently, it’s worth noting that the below is my interpretation of the rules and you should check the Dream Team website for the official breakdown of how the game works.
Picking a team
How many teams can we enter?
Dream Team allows each player to enter a maximum of 1 team.
What budget is available?
The starting Sun Dream Team budget for team selection is £50m. Players will need to be chosen to fit within this budget, which is always a challenging task.
What formations can we choose from?
The Sun Dream Team offers seven variations of team formations. A 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 3-4-3, 3-5-2, 5-4-1, 5-3-2. Changes to formation can be made at any time during the season. As long as you have a transfer available to accommodate a change in formation. For example, if your formation was set to 4-4-2, you could only change the formation by making a transfer swapping a midfield player for a striker to accommodate the change to 4-3-3. This can be managed from your Team Hub.
How many transfers do we get per week?
Dream Team managers have 2 transfers per week. To take effect transfers must be made before the game week starts. 1 unused transfer can be carried over but only a maximum of 4 transfers can be held in the bank at any time.
How many players can I have from the same team?
You are able to pick unlimited players from the same team. In practice, the available budget is unlikely to allow you to pick the very best players from the top clubs.
Is there a captain and substitutes?
Dream Team have introduced a captain and vice captain for the 2024/25 season but there are no subs.
Team management
What is a game week?
A game week is a weekly period where players can pick up points. Game weeks run 90 minutes before the first match that week.
How can we make transfers?
Transfers can be made from your team hub. As mentioned above, 2 transfers are available each week. Players who have been transferred in can only start scoring points if they’ve not already played during the game week. If the player has already played, the transfer will be pending until the end of the game week. A good time to use a pending transfer is if you want to take out a player who has had a poor game week and bring in a player who has had a good game week – thus avoiding losing any team value.
Can transfers be reversed?
Transfers can be reserved as long as neither player within the transfer has played during the game week.
How does variable player pricing work?
Player values are subject to rise and fall at the end of every game week. The maximum a value can change is 0.3m and this is completely dependent on the player’s performance over the game week. Player values can have a real effect on your overall team budget, if you grow your budget over time, you’ll effectively be able to afford more expensive players as the season develops.
Scoring points
How do players score points?
The scoring system for The Sun Dream Team is extremely easy to follow. Players are rated individually and pick up points during games they are involved in.
ALL PLAYERS
Goal Scored +6
Shot on target +1
Big Chance Created +1
Tackles +1 per 2 tackles
Appearance (Up to 60 minutes) +1
Appearance (60 minutes or more) +1
Assist +3
Yellow Card -1
Red Card -3
Penalty Miss -3
Own Goal -2
GOALKEEPERS ONLY
Saves +1 per 2 saves
Penalty Save +3
GOALKEEPERS & DEFENDERS
Clean sheet (minimum 60min played) +5
2 Goals Conceded -1
Each Goal Conceded Over 2 Goals -1
Which games count?
Unlike other fantasy football formats, you can score points across all domestic cup competitions and European fixtures as well as the Premier League. This includes The FA Cup, The EFL Cup, The Champion League, The Europa League and The Europa Conference League.
For a more in-depth look at the game rules, please visit the Dream Team website or app.
How do I delete my team on here permanently
Which team were you looking to delete? This website is purely focused on providing tips on how to play the game
Is there any way I can have 2 teams
Not as far as I know without breaking the rules.
Can you view other peoples teams in a mini league?
Not at the moment, I’m not sure if this will become unlocked at some point or if they won’t be visible for the whole season.